


Soulmark

by heyidkyay



Series: Larry Stylinson Oneshots [11]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No One Direction, Childhood Friends, Cute Ending, Friends to Lovers, Harry Styles Has a Crush on Louis Tomlinson, Home Movies, M/M, Soulmates, Soulmates Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, University Student Louis Tomlinson, Welcome Home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:02:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24796636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyidkyay/pseuds/heyidkyay
Summary: "You shouldn't cry." Are the words that have been engraved into Harry's skin since before he could even remember. He actually blames the mark for him being so overly emotional, it was literally destined if he was being honest, his mum had always said that he was just a sensitive soul and that his soulmate would love him for it (because they'd have to, Harry always thought wryly). He guessed that he was one of the lucky ones, most people had the causal greeting, hi, hello, or excuse me, his was a little more to the point. Harry just hated the fact that he was destined to meet his soulmate while he was sobbing his heart out, he'd spent many nights rehearsing his crying face in his mirror so that his soulmate wasn't faced with something too horrific the first time they met.He was nineteen and still yet to meet his soulmate, most of his friends had already met theirs and the ones that hadn't didn't really care too much about that fact. Harry on the other hand did. He desperately wanted to meet the one he was fated to be with. He had always hoped that it might have been Louis, but they had known each other going on fifteen years and they would have realised by now- right?
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: Larry Stylinson Oneshots [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749181
Comments: 9
Kudos: 213





	Soulmark

"You shouldn't cry." Are the words that have been engraved into Harry's skin since before he could even remember. He actually blames the mark for him being so overly emotional, it was literally destined if he was being honest, his mum had always said that he was just a sensitive soul and that his soulmate would love him for it ( _because they'd have to_ , Harry always thought wryly). He guessed that he was one of the lucky ones, most people had the causal greeting, hi, hello, or excuse me, his was a little more to the point. Harry just hated the fact that he was destined to meet his soulmate while he was sobbing his heart out, he'd spent many nights rehearsing his crying face in his mirror so that his soulmate wasn't faced with something too horrific the first time they met.

He was nineteen and still yet to meet his soulmate, most of his friends had already met theirs and the ones that hadn't didn't really care too much about that fact. Harry on the other hand did. He desperately wanted to meet the one he was fated to be with. He had always hoped that it might have been Louis, but they had known each other going on fifteen years and they would have realised by now- right?

Louis was his best friend, always had been since the day they met, the boy was two years older but that fact never seemed to bother him, he had always preferred hanging around with Harry than his other mates. The two were constantly joined at the hip all throughout primary and secondary school, did practically everything together. So when Louis went off to uni without him, Harry had felt a little lost. He brushed it off thinking it was just him being his over-emotional self but with Louis in London so far away his heart would sometimes hurt and there were too many nights to count where he just longed for the older boy to come back home.

They still constantly texted and FaceTimed, but Louis had been busy balancing uni with work while Harry had been doing his final exams so it hadn't been as frequent over the last few months. It was finally the summer holidays, Harry was officially done with school and Louis was coming back home. The younger lad had been so excited, practically buzzing since he had heard the news, he hadn't seen Louis since Christmas and even then it had only been briefly and if he was being honest he had changed a lot since then. He had finally hit the growth spurt he had been waiting for, started running a lot more often, grew into his nose and face a little more and had let his hair grow out. He hadn't thought too much of it and on the day where him, his mum and Louis' family had all been waiting for the older boy to arrive home, he only then questioned how much he had changed when Louis had hardly recognised him.

They had planned this small welcome home party, it was very sweet in Harry's opinion, and had been waiting anxiously for Louis' return. When they heard the sound of a car door slamming shut and feet travelling up the gravelled driveway they all jumped up and rushed to open the front door. To say that Louis had been surprised would have been a complete lie, he had heard the ruckus his large family had caused from the other side of the door, arguing over who got to welcome him home first. His siblings had all jumped on him when they realised that the door had opened and found their big brother stood there chuckling at their antics. They all welcomed him one by one, Jay was more than happy to have her boy home, she and Harry had spent many evenings reminiscing together while he'd been away. The woman was like a second mother to Harry so they had always been close but since Louis' parting they had grown even closer, they had both missed Louis like crazy and having the other there for comfort really helped.

When Louis got round to Anne his face brightened and he pulled the shorter woman in for a large hug, spouting about how much he had missed her and everyone else while she placed a kiss to his cheek. When he had pulled away he instantly asked where Harry was, the tall boy stood beside him and his mum frowned and that made everyone giggle.

Harry had made himself known and Louis could only give him a shocked expression, the little kid he used to have to look down at now had a good few inches on him, the boys chubby cheeks were gone, replaced by high cheekbones and a strong, defined jaw, the long locks were a surprise too, Louis had never pictured Harry with long hair but god could the boy pull it off.

When Louis had engulfed Harry in a bear hug everyone cooed and awed at the two while Harry felt his bottom lip quiver and his eyes start to gloss over as he buried his head into the older boys shoulder, taking in the familiar scent he had missed so much. Being in Louis' arms he felt his whole body relax, he hadn't even realised how tense he had been while Louis was away but being there with the older boy he just couldn't explain the feeling that flooded through him. It was almost like relief. Things continued on after that and it was like nothing had changed, Louis teased Harry for the rest of the day about his floral shirt, skin tight jeans and golden boots but always made sure that Harry knew just how much he secretly adored them with his sly comments that made Harry flush all over and stumble over his words. It wasn't new for the two of them, they had always been like that, a little too forward, a little too flirty but Harry could never really get over his massive crush on the boy so anything Louis said about him always made him feel all giddy inside and caused a swarm of butterflies to flutter around unapologetically in his stomach.

It was later in the evening, after the welcome home cake had been dished out and they were all settled on and around the Tomlinson's sofa, when the home movies came out.

"Play that one, it's one of the boys' first days at school!" Jay exclaimed to Lottie from where she was perched on the arm of the sofa, Lottie was knelled down in front of the tv sorting through old videotapes. She briefly looked up at her mum and nodded before pushing the tape into the old VHS player.

Louis looked over at Harry who was squashed up beside him on the end of the sofa, when the younger boy felt his gaze he looked over and gave a warm smile. "I missed you." Louis whispered as the tape started up and that made Harry lean in even closer and settle his head on the older boys shoulder. "Me too." He mumbled in return, unable to fight the blush that crawled up his neck.

Everyone loudly cooed when the image of a tiny looking Louis came onto the screen. "Loubear? Lou, look over here for me lovely!" Jay's voiced rang out, the woman visibly cringed at the sound but everyone just laughed. It continued on like that, little Louis sat at the dinning table eating his bowl of coco pops like someone would take them away (Harry joked that nothing had changed since then because everyone knew just how obsessed Louis was with his cereal), then the tape fizzled out into a video of Louis walking to school, ranting on about how excited he was for his first day of year one, then they were at the school playground, surrounded by many other parents and children, waiting for the classroom doors to open, that's when a little curly haired boy was first seen in the video, (Harry had pouted at the sight of his small frame hiding behind his mums legs while the ones around him just chuckled).

While everyone watched the screen, Harry felt Louis shuffle impossibly closer, goosebumps erupted across the skin of his forearms where Louis brushed their hands together slightly. Harry sucked in a light breath before looking over to see if Louis had heard it, when he saw that the video still held the older boys attention he focused back on the tv.

Little Louis' hand pulled on a coat that could just be seen in the corner of the screen, Jay focused the camera back on her small son who told her he'd be right back. Jay's light chuckle sounded from the speakers as they all watched Louis hurry off, the camera panned, trailing after his small form before it settled the focus on where Louis was crouched beside the curly haired boy from earlier. Jay wasn't stood too far away from the pair with the camera but still moved closer to pick up the sound of the two small boys.

Louis tapped the curly haired boys shoulder and the boy looked up, Harry smiled sheepishly at the sight of his younger face. His green eyes were still just as bright but in the video you could faintly see the red that rimmed them and the tear tracks that had stained his cheeks fro where he had been crying. little Harry hiccuped slightly as he tilted his head questioningly up at the older boy crouched beside him. "You shouldn't cry." Echoed throughout the living room and Harry's breath caught in his throat. He immediately felt the eyes of everyone on him, the sound of Louis' little voice still playing on the tape, "You're too pretty to cry." It sounded before there was a brief pause, "Are you scared?"

Harry's eyes were trained on the video, watching intently, unable to look away. He saw his younger self nod softly before chewing on his already bitten lip. Little Louis carried on trying to comfort the terrified boy, "It's okay, you know? It's scary at first, I was scared too but now I like school." Little Harry only shuffled closer to the older boy beside him causing little Louis to continue, "Plus you don't have to be scared now because you have me!"

Harry felt his tears burn his eyes, begging to escape, as he watched little Louis hug his small trembling frame, "It'll be alright, we can be best friends if you want! I promise I'll look after you." Louis' voice was so sweet and endearing and filled with so much adoration, everything that calmed little Harry.

Harry was perched on the edge of the sofa, his hands shaking in his lap, watching intently as he waited for the words he prayed for to come next.

"You'll look after me?"

He knew those words. He had seen those words. He had spent too many sleepless nights thinking about those words. Wishing that he had said them. Wishing that they were they words he had fated into resting on Louis' skin. Wishing that he was Louis' soulmate.

The entire room was silent, the only sound that could be heard was the faint static that sounded from where the video had ended, no one could look away from the two boys who were sat staring at the now black screen. Harry let his gaze drop from the tv to the writing he had tattooed on his wrist, he absently ran his thumb over the dark ink there and felt an overwhelming amount of warmth travel through his entire body. The feeling shocked him and he snapped his head up, his eyes darted over everyone in the room before settling on Louis who was now staring down at the words on his exposed wrist. He couldn't do this. Not now. It was all too much. Harry jumped up off the sofa and hurried out of the room, he had no idea where he was going, or why he was even running, he finally had everything he had always dreamed of but he was scared- terrified.

As he dashed out of the house, letting the door slam behind him, he was immediately soaked by the strong raindrops that hit his skin, he had no time to second guess running, his feet almost had a mind of their own, he couldn't think properly, he couldn't comprehend what had just happened. _What if Louis had always known? What if he had tried to hide it? What if he didn't want me? Why would he ever want me?_ Harry couldn't get his thoughts to silence as he raced down the street he and Louis had grown up on, his feet splashing against the wet pavement below him, his mind consumed by Louis.

When he looked up he realised that he had made it all the way to the familiar blue gates that sat at the very end of the road, the school where he had met Louis sat on the other side, staring back at him. Harry chuckled quietly before it choked out into a painful sob, he let his body fall against the gates before he slid down cold metal bars slowly, crying harder as he hit the hard, wet floor. He couldn't help but think that he'd ruined everything, he cursed himself for running, he just couldn't get over the way Louis had looked at his mark. His face was expressionless, he looked almost frozen, numb. Harry sobbed louder at the reminder, not caring for the unforgiving rain that relentlessly kept on pouring. He buried his head in his hands, Louis was his soulmate, he had always been. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about what it meant, Louis had never given him any sign of reciprocating his feelings, Harry had only ever been his best friend. Now they knew that they were fated to be together, would Louis even acknowledge it? Would he just ignore it? Tell Harry that he had never seen him like that before, that just because they were soulmates it didn't mean that they'd have to be together. It had happened before, soulmates just wanting platonic relationships or full out rejecting the other person, Harry had always wished for a big love story, the thought of not growing old and in love with his soulmate pained him. But if Louis only ever wanted to be friends, then Harry would deal with it, because he wouldn't- couldn't- lose Louis. Not now. Not ever.

Harry's sobs stopped when he felt the presence of someone before him, he bit at his lip to stop the sound of his cries from pouring out but as he let his hands fall away from his face he saw the one person he hadn't been expecting, Louis, crouched down in front of him and Harry just couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He looked up into the familiar bright blue eyes that had always felt like home but he couldn't bring himself to say anything, he didn't know if he could.

Louis reached out a shakey hand to tuck the hair that clung to Harry's forehead behind his ear before he wrapped the trembling younger boy up in his arms and pulled him into a warm hug. They were both soaking wet but neither could bring themselves to care all that much. Harry clung to Louis like his life depended on it, like it would be for the last time, because he couldn't be sure that it wasn't. Louis still smelled the same, a sweet vanilla with faint hints of tobacco and baby powder, even in the rain where it wasn't as strong, the smell comforted Harry to no end. It reminded him of everything he knew, everything that was home, everything he _loved_.

The older boy pulled away slowly but as he did he captured the curly haired boys face in his hands, "You shouldn't cry." he said softly and Harry broke out into loud laugh, followed by a couple unshed tears, unable to believe that Louis had just said that, but the boy only smiled at him before continuing on, "You're too pretty to cry." Harry rolled his eyes playfully at the statement because he could already feel the warm blush that coated his cheeks, no one had ever really called him pretty before.

Louis lifted Harry's chin and their eyes met again, blue seeing green, Louis sighed quietly, "Are you scared?" He questioned, his voice small and timid and Harry could almost picture the young boy he had first met standing in front of him. Harry nodded in response as his silent tears cascaded down his face, his trembling lips unable to find the words he wanted to say.

Louis smiled softly, his own eyes were filled with tears that he wouldn't let fall, "You have me. You've always had me." He whispered out and Harry couldn't believe the words he was hearing, "I don't think you understand just how much you mean to me. There is no one in this world that I could love half as much as I love you, Haz. Its always been you." Harry's eyes widened at the confession but before he could tell Louis just how much he meant to him, Louis thumbed over his bottom lip and said, "I love you Harry, you'll always have me if you want me. I promise I'll look after you."

Harry choked out a small sob before pressing his own hands over Louis' and pulling them to his chest, "You'll look after me?"

Louis laughed and Harry beamed at the sight, he loved Louis' laugh, he loved the way his whole face would brighten, the way the skin around his eyes would wrinkle and how his smile would take your breath away. "Always." Louis told him and Harry didn't stop himself from wrapping his arms around the older boys neck and pulling him in to kiss his lips softly.

It was everything Harry had imagined, the moment their lips met everything else fell away, he felt whole, he felt needed, he felt loved.

As they parted they rested their foreheads against one another, rain dripping down their faces, noses brushing, lips parted, eyes blown. Louis smiled softly and Harry returned the gesture before pressing his lips to Louis' once more just because he could. "I love you too." He said as he pulled away, beaming brightly at the boy he had always loved, the boy he called his home, the boy who had always been his soulmate.


End file.
